The Intelligent Use of Water Awards is a grant program that awards funds
to water conservation and environmental sustainability projects that promote
green spaces. Any Internet user can submit a project via the website at www.iuowawards.com and promote it within
his or her own community.

All projects can be anonymously voted on by visitors (one vote a day per
project, per individual user), and the projects with the most votes will
receive funding from Rain Bird, a leading manufacturer and provider of irrigation
products and services.

The company will award four $1,500 projects, three $5,000 projects and
three $10,000 projects.

The annual program recognizes individuals and organizations whose
innovation, leadership, ingenuity and dedication to the management and
protection of Earth’s most precious natural resource through improved
landscape water efficiency raises the standard for outdoor water
conservation.

Grants are available for anyone who wants to fund a project that helps promote conservation, sustainability and green spaces, such as this garden, winner of The Intelligent Use of Water Award.

After three years of honoring individuals and organizations for their
completed projects, the program was revamped in 2010 to help fund future
water conservation projects.

The interactive approach to this year’s program will help Rain Bird
serve a broader range of projects that seek to intelligently manage water and
preserve green spaces.

Past Winners

In 2009, The Intelligent Use of Water Award went to Naples Botanical
Garden, Inc. in Naples, Florida, for its commitment to sustainable
green building practices in the design of its gardens.

In 2008, Christopher Gray of Marvel Golf Club in Benton, Kentucky,
demonstrated innovation for his proactive development and implementation of
water conservation programs both on and off the golf course.

The first winner in 2007 was a five-acre garden near El Cajon, California,
The Water Conservation Garden, that showcased water conservation through a
series of themed gardens and robust educational programming.